This Month's Picks

$10 Cowboy (CD)

Charley Crockett
Need an antidote to overly polished, corporate country? Charley Crockett is your man. The Texan singer and guitarist delivers an updated blend of Americana and country that sounds as classic as the legendary artists of the '50s and '60s...albeit with a bit more blues, rock, and R&B in the mix. $10 Cowboy builds on Crockett's excellent earlier albums; the songwriting is evocative and transportive, the atmosphere as electrifying and intriguing as a midnight drive on a lonely highway. Crockett is the real deal and $10 Cowboy is a must-hear. More
Genre: Country

Closer (CD)

Maria Chiara Argiro
Maria Chiara Argiro's Closer is pure leftfield pop bliss. The London-via-Rome singer, pianist, composer & producer wrote the album to evoke the dreamlike feeling she experienced in the time leaning up to its creation — and that's exactly what it feels like. Argiro is a familiar force in the UK jazz, electronic, and classical scenes and while these lovely tracks have pop bones, they're dressed up with hypnotic electronic beats, jazz trumpet, and gauzy synths. Closer is a refreshing listen, the type of album that just hits a little deeper and makes you glad to be alive. More

Bewitched: The Goddess Edition (CD)

Laufey
Transform your existence into a more glamorous, romantic, and retro one with Laufey's Bewitched: The Goddess Edition . The Icelandic artist creates dreamy vocal jazz that sounds like it could've come straight out of the Golden Age of Hollywood, or from the songbook of legends like Sarah Vaughan or Ella Fitzgerald. The songs move from sweeping and grand to intimate and vulnerable, with a dash of bossa nova and classical mixed into her throwback jazz sound. While Bewitched was a 2023 GRAMMY winner, The Goddess Edition features four stellar new tracks, including the titular single, "Goddess." Turn down the lights, put on something pastel, and enter Laufey's marvelous, magical world. More
Genre: Rock, Jazz

The Beekeeper (BLU)

Jason Statham stars in The Beekeeper , a heart-pounding action-thriller about a mysterious Beekeeper. Adam Clay (Statham), a former operative of a powerful organization known as Beekeepers, upends his covert life and embarks on a brutal revenge mission to dismantle corruption at the highest levels of our society. The stellar cast also includes Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, Phylicia Rashad and Jeremy Iron, amongst others. More

Drive-Away Dolls (BLU)

Written by Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke, this comedy caper follows Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.  More

Tarantula Heart (LP)

Melvins
The mighty Melvins have done it again. Tarantula Heart is heavy as hell and gloriously weird. "Working the Ditch" is a slow burn descent into the heavy metal underworld. "Allergic to Food" is woozy and wild, the sonic equivalent of a freak electrical storm. This just might be one of the band's most imaginative, unpredictable releases in their storied career. Tarantula Heart is a trip into the darkest recesses of the rabbit hole. More
Genre: Rock

Ballad Of The Brothers (CD)

The Bacon Brothers
The Bacon Brothers' new album is a rollicking good time. More than just a celebrity band, actor Kevin and Emmy-winning composer Michael clearly know their musical history. Ballad of the Brothers blends old time folk, retro soul, alt-rock, and country into a travelogue through the past and present of American music. A rootsy, spirited, thoroughly enjoyable good time, Ballad of the Brothers showcases the Bacon Brothers' ability to tell a good tale and write a toe-tappin' tune. More
Genre: Rock

Polaroid Lovers (CD)

Sarah Jarosz
Sarah Jarosz seventh studio album, Polaroid Lovers , delivers her viscerally potent and resplendent brand of folk-rock, while exploring the ephemeral moments that indelibly shape our lives. The alchemy of Jarosz's finely wrought lyricism, gorgeous vocal work, and virtuosic yet unfettered musicality creates an album-long meditation on love and longing. More
Genre: Folk

Reconstruction Site [Apple & Black Half & Half Vinyl] (LP)

The Weakerthans
In honor of its 20th anniversary, The Weakerthans' Reconstruction Site has been reissued on apple and black half & half color vinyl. Reconstruction Site, the third album from the Winnipeg alternative rockers, tells a complex story of life, death and loss. Singer John K. Samson has a Steve Earle-like stark storytelling quality to his vocals, and the songwriting hits like a modern-day Petty. More
Genre: Rock

Ilion (CD)

Slift
French heavy proggers Slift are back with their third masterpiece, Ilion . Opening the album with the epic, sprawling 11-minute title track, this is an album that has a story to tell, and with no track under 8 minutes, Slift allow these songs to slowly unfurl and breathe. Fans of Melvins, Tool, Mars Volta and Baroness will not want to miss one. More
Genre: Rock

I Got Heaven (CD)

Mannequin Pussy
Mannequin Pussy returns with I Got Heaven , a musical showcase of moods, with all of them hitting equally hard in different ways, often within the same song. Singer and guitarist Marisa Dabice bares her soul on the indie-folk track "I Don't Know You," increasing the volume, distortion, and emotion as the song goes on. Conversely, "Ok? Ok! Ok? Ok!" is a chaotic hardcore banger, replete with a tambourine during the breakdown. Brooding and shoegazey one moment, and bludgeoning you over the head in the next, I Got Heaven happily throws the rulebook out the window and does things the Mannequin Pussy way. More
Genre: Rock

Baku's Revenge (CD)

Magnolia Park
Florida's Magnolia Park return with their sophomore album, Baku's Revenge . Vocalist Joshua Roberts comes out swinging, issuing a verbal declaration to any naysayers, before blasting off with Feel Something, featuring Derek Sanders of Mayday Parade. Baku's Revenge rocks all the way through, with pop songs with nu-metal roots hip-hop beats and an emo punk attitude. More
Genre: Rock

Rationale (LP)

Glitterer
Branching out from his roots in Title Fight, Ned Russin has elevated Glitterer from a one-man side project to a fully formed band on Rationale . Russin and company pluck moments of shiny synth from the '80s, fuse them together with '90s fist-pumping alternative rock and 00's shoegaze and pop and you're getting a sense of what to expect from Rationale . More
Genre: Rock

Eviscerate (CD)

Eidola
Resistance is useless. If you're a fan of melodic post-hardcore bands, you'll find Eidola's Eviscerate irresistible. The band combines harsh metal vocals with anthemic choruses, brutal riffs, artillery-like percussion, and downbeat melodies to create a sonic statement on our divided society. Eviscerate tackles topics like loathing and loss, cruelty and chaos. Obviously, this isn't easy listening yet the soaring choruses and moments of reprieve make these tracks addictive and strangely beautiful. More
Genre: Rock

Up On Gravity Hill (CD)

METZ
Canadian punks Metz move ever so subtly into the darkness on Up On Gravity Hill . There's still plenty of punk rock ferocity and grittiness in the trio's songwriting; there's just a little bit of simmering vehemence and dark atmospherics to add a slight post-punk bent to these turbulent tracks. They're urgent and bristling, sustained in intensity and utterly gripping. Guest appearances from Owen Pallett and violin ("No Reservation/Love Comes Crashing") add an expressive, moving quality and vocals from Black Mountain's Amber Webber ("Light Your Way Home") create a haunted, harrowing feel. More
Genre: Rock

Lifeless Birth (CD)

Necrot
Necrot delivers one of the year's most solid death metal releases with Lifeless Birth . The riffs are pure fire, the percussion absolutely punishing, and the vocals menacing and brutal. The songs are also total earworms that'll keep you hitting the repeat button again and again. Lifeless Birth is an ultimate headbanger of an album, with all the fury of a demon crawling out of the abyss, and all the enjoyment of said demon as it's about to set the world ablaze. More

Unwishing Well (CD)

The Reds, Pinks & Purples
Moody, romantic, and straight outta the underground, The Reds, Pinks & Purples create music in the vein of The Go-Betweens, Felt, and the Magnetic Fields. UnWishing Well features witty, droll lyrics and lilting melodies that work together to create a heartbreakingly lovely atmosphere. The surface of these hazy, dreamy songs is pretty and pastel: the heart black to the core. Lighten up your dead-end job, failed romance, and flailing artistic career with this fantastic album — you'll be glad you did. More
Genre: Rock

Lisa Frankenstein [Collector's Edition] (BLU)

A coming of rage love story from acclaimed writer Diablo Cody and director Zelda Williams about a misunderstood teenager and her high school crush, who happens to be a handsome corpse. After a set of playfully horrific circumstances bring him back to life, the two embark on a murderous journey to find love, happiness... and a few missing body parts along the way. More

Night Swim (BLU)

The producers of M3GAN high dive into the deep end of horror with the supernatural thriller, Night Swim . Wyatt Russell stars as a former major league baseball player, forced into early retirement by a degenerative illness, who moves into a new home with his wife, Oscar nominee Kerry Condon, and their two children. The new home comes complete with a backyard swimming pool, but a deep secret surfaces and unleashes a malevolent force that will drag the family into the inescapable depths of terror. More

i/o [w/Dolby Atmos Blu-ray] (CD)

Peter Gabriel
It's finally here: Peter Gabriel's first collection of new songs since 2002's Up. Gabriel's latest, i/o, will remind fans why they first fell in love with his music all those years ago. Each track feels like a masterpiece, a self-contained world of storytelling, emotion, and plain excellent songcraft. There are two mixes of these songs: there's the Bright-Side Mix, with Mark "Spike" Stent, and the Dark-Side Mix, as done by Tchad Blake. The mixes bring out different properties of the songs, with the Dark-Side emphasizing the dramatic, the grand, and the all-consuming aspects of Gabriel's work. Another epic release from the legendary Gabriel, this one's not to be missed. More
Genre: Rock